At that time, then-Chief Judge Stan Morris said he didn't want criminal defendants to face depictions of the Klan while they awaited trials.
Even if the depiction was historical, Morris said, the Klan contradicts the mission of the court: fair justice.
County leaders then moved the mural to the first floor of the combination courthouse and government office building so it faces the entry doors.
Barber wrote an accompanying historical guide to the mural, and he gave a guestbook so people could offer their opinions.
"When the group known as the 'Radical Republicans' gained control of the state in 1868, the Reconstruction program took an unpleasant turn. ... The reversed order was severely resented by a large segment of the white population. Lawlessness among ex-slaves and troublesome whites was the rule of the day. No relief was given by the carpetbag and scalawag government or by the Union troops. The result was the emergence of secret societies claiming to bring law and order to the county. One of these groups was the Ku Klux Klan, an organization that sometimes took vigilante justice to extremes but was sometimes the only control the county knew over those outside the law. The Klan faded from view at the end of Reconstruction. It had minor come-backs in the 1920's and mid 1950's. Since then it has become the subject of legend rather than a cause of fear."
The KKK illustration is small, doesn't have a prominent place in the mural and can be easy to overlook.
Mural supporters have staunchly defended the artwork , including the KKK depiction because it documents a period in the county's history.
In 2015, John Phillips, a Jacksonville lawyer known for taking on high-profile cases, described the mural as offensive and said it should be taken down.
Nonetheless, the mural remains intact and in place.
Stone said he is "a firm believer in history, and that you learn from your history. But part of the equation of history is when you document something and place it in context, it has a time and place."
A museum is a perfect place for the mural, Stone said because it will allow people to come view it and express their views of it.
"But in a courthouse where Lady Justice is supposed to prevail, where everybody is supposed to get an equal, fair shake, a mural depicting a vigilante group that is opposed to equal rights and opposed to equal justice, shouldn't be in that building," Stone said.
Stone said as of Monday, they had not received a response from Nilon.
Teresa Stepzinski: (904) 359-4075
This story originally published to jacksonville.com, and was shared to other Florida newspapers in the USA TODAY Network - Florida.